A variety of liquid and powdered medicaments are packaged and delivered to users in ampoules formed from a single brittle material, most commonly glass. These types of ampoules generally include a neck portion reduced in size from a medicament storage portion. When it is desired to access the medicament, the ampoule is broken at the neck portion and a head or cap portion is removed from the ampoule to provide access to the medicament contained in the medicament storage portion. Because the ampoules are formed wholly from glass, opening the ampoules often causes sharp, sometimes jagged edges to be created at the location near the neck where the ampoules are broken open. These sharp edges can pose a risk that a user handling an opened ampoule may cut his or her hands while manipulating the opened ampoule.
In addition, as some degree of force is required on behalf of a user to open such ampoules, at the instant in time that the glass neck is “snapped” open the two resulting sections of the ampoule can both be subject to sudden movement. The sudden movement may cause medicament to be splashed out of the ampoule, posing a risk of adverse exposure to the user as well as a risk of lost or wasted medicament.
A variety of ampoule openers have been provided in the past, however many of these openers involve sophisticated designs that increase the complexity and cost of using such openers, and can reduce the likelihood that such openers will be used correctly. While relatively simplistic, hand-held openers have been provided, many of these do not address the safety issues inherent in manipulating newly open ampoule bodies with sharp and/or jagged exposed edges.
In addition, many conventional ampoule opening systems fail to provide a manner of safely handling and disposing of the cap of the ampoule that is removed from the medicament storage portion. As the cap can also exhibit sharp or jagged edges after being separated from the ampoule base, a user risks cutting his or her hands when handling or disposing of the cap.